The fishy odor you smell over at the Wayne County government building only seems to stink more as time goes by. News of Corruption. Conflicts of interest. Shady dealings.
It’s pervasive, a culture that has flourished under Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano.
I’m not saying Ficano is crooked. It doesn’t matter. He needs to go.
Someone has to be the Harry Truman, the "Buck Stops Here" guy. Eeny, meeny, miny, mo. Ficano is it. Good Bye.
Ficano is a good guy. That doesn’t matter. Not a bit. He needs to go.
On Tuesday alone, there were two stories, one on WXYZ, and the other in the Free Press. One was about a new ethics board that has a member who is a regular contributor to Bob Ficano. The other, in the Freep, was about the county using no-bid private investigators to look at, among other things, work comp claims.
Neither are crimes of the century. In fact, they aren't crimes. But they create a shady perception. Citizens figure, if things appear shady on the outside, who knows what the heck is happening behind closed doors.
Then there's the criminal matters.
A few weeks ago, Ficano appointee Tahir Kazmi, who ran the IT department, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes. Another employee and a vendor have pleaded guilty. Then there's Ficano appointee Zayd Allebban, who faces charges in a bribery scheme and of trying to cover it up.
There’s a lot more out there. There’s questions about the pension fund.
In June, the Free Press reported that the pension fund had a $600 million deficit, something taxpayers would have to cover. The plan was fully funded when Ficano took office in 2003.
The Freep reported: “Under Ficano, the county’s pension plan has been marked by generous benefits, rosy assumptions and accounting changes that mask the plans’s trouble.”
The FBI is still investigating things at the county. Who knows what exposure Ficano has?
But what I do know is that Ficano created -- or at the very least was in charge -- at a time when the culture has rotted like a two-week-old fish.
The whole fish needs to be tossed out. There's no salvaging it. It's rotten. Yes, that means good bye Bob.
Not his fault?
It doesn’t matter.
His employees have run amok.
Now, it’s time for Ficano to run -- far far away from county government.